Join us on a walk through of the Wheal Jane mine water treatment process

Описание: The Wheal Jane mine water treatment scheme treats mine water pumped from below ground using a high density sludge process.

The resultant sludge is pumped to a dam and the treated water is discharged to a stream. In a typical year approximately 6,000,000 m3 of mine water is abstracted, 600 tonnes of metal contaminants (predominantly iron and zinc) are removed and 2,000 tonnes of hydrated lime, 7,000 kg of anionic flocculant and 3,000 MW-h of power are consumed.

In addition to the operating plant, the plant infrastructure includes a workshop, storage facilities and office space.

The Wheal Jane plant was built after a catastrophic release of contaminated water in 1992, a year after the mine was closed and its pumps turned off. A drainage tunnel, or adit, near the surface collapsed and more than 45million litres of acidic mine water poured into the Carnon River and the Fal Estuary. This was the biggest water related pollution incidents in the UK and ranks highly among the world’s largest water pollution events.

The Coal Authority, on behalf of DEFRA and the Environment Agency, awarded the operation and maintenance contract for the Wheal Jane mine water treatment scheme near Truro, Cornwall to John F Hunt Regeneration.

Our contract to operate and maintain works commenced in October 2020, with the contract running to 2025, with an option to extend till 2030.